1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for presenting information that an occupant of a vehicle needs to be notified of to the occupant in accordance with the behavior of the occupant and with situations related to operation of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the development of techniques for automated driving has been pushed forward. In relation to automated driving, conventional techniques for notifying an occupant of a danger while a vehicle is traveling include a proposed technique that enables danger levels of dangers that the occupant is notified of to be changed depending on whether the vehicle is under fully automated driving or human-operated driving (for example, Japanese Patent No. 4735310).
In this connection, the current situation is as follows: information for driving (such as a vehicle speed, a remaining fuel quantity, a map, and navigational assistance on the direction of travel) is displayed on a display unit for driving (such as, for example, a dashboard or a display screen in front of a driver, or a screen for navigation); and displaying other contents (such as a television program) on a display unit for driving and the driver's using information devices and screens other than a display unit for driving are prohibited.
However, in the future, with the advent of fully reliable automated driving, it will be a common practice for drivers to take their eyes off the outside of the vehicle and the dashboard or a display screen in the vehicle. As a consequence, there will possibly be situations where contents are displayed on a display screen installed in an automated driving vehicle, where contents are displayed on an information device (such as a smartphone or a tablet personal computer (PC) carried into the vehicle by an occupant) other than that installed in an automated driving vehicle, and where an occupant is focusing his or her attention exclusively on such contents.
In this case, if danger notification is given only in an audio form or only through a display apparatus of an automated driving apparatus, it means that the notification is communicated through a different route than the information device that the occupant faces. Resulting inconveniences would include that the communication does not appropriately reach the occupant, that the occupant is unable to make a quick decision on which route to be used for an immediate operation responding to the communication, and that a response time lag occurs, for example, because the occupant has to change his/her orientation so as to face the display unit for driving. For this reason, there is a potential need for control that is performed when danger notification is given to a display apparatus basically intended for content utilization and to an information device other than a device installed in a vehicle.